On Reading Matthew Henry

[bookslover]

One thing I've noticed when reading Matthew Henry's commentary for my devotions is that he almost never mentions or alludes to the Puritans. In the more than 1,400 pages I've read so far, I think he's mentioned Richard Baxter twice and the Puritans as a movement (capital P) once. Seeing that he was writing in the early 18th century just after the main Puritan movement's demise, I find that surprising since he was writing close to that era.

Also, I've found that he is not nearly as allegorical as he has been accused of being. In historical passages, he'll engage in speculative extrapolations of the text on occasion, but I find him to be rather restrained most of the time. Good devotional material.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

First among the mighty for general usefulness we are bound to mention the man whose name is a household word, MATTHEW HENRY.[1] He is most pious and pithy, sound and sensible, suggestive and sober, terse and trustworthy. You will find him to be glittering with metaphors, rich in analogies, overflowing with illustrations, superabundant in reflections. He delights in apposition and alliteration; he is usually plain, quaint, and full of pith; he sees right through a text directly; apparently he is not critical, but he quietly gives the result of an accurate critical knowledge of the original fully up to the best critics of his time. He is not versed in the manners and customs of the East, for the Holy Land was not so accessible as in our day; but he is deeply spiritual, heavenly, and profitable; finding good matter in every text, and from all deducing most practical and judicious lessons.

Every minister ought to read Matthew Henry entirely and carefully through once at least. I should recommend you to get through it in the next twelve months after you leave college. Begin at the beginning, and resolve that you will traverse the goodly land from Dan to Beersheba. You will acquire a vast store of sermons if you read with your notebook close at hand; and as for thoughts, they will swarm around you like twittering swallows around an old gable towards the close of autumn. If you publicly expound the chapter you have just been reading, your people will wonder at the novelty of your remarks and the depth of your thoughts, and then you may tell them what a treasure Henry is.
CH Spurgeon http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/misc/c&cl1.htm

 

[cthorn14]

He also published a number of excellent sermons and tracts. I think he's one of the most balanced experiential preachers. I'm currently reading through the 2-volume set of his other (non-commentary) works, which is a treasure chest.

 

[CathH]

His Communicant's Companion is excellent too.

@bookslover , does he name anyone very much?

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

My middle son's name is Matthew Henry. His first name came from the disciple, but when picking a middle name we wanted to use a theologian, and it just worked.

 

[bookslover]

His Communicant's Companion is excellent too.

@bookslover , does he name anyone very much?

Cath, he mentions a Dr. Hammond quite a bit, but never identifies him. There's one other person he mentions, but his name escapes me at the moment. Aside from those two, he mentions virtually no one.

Reformation Heritage Books is planning to re-publish the 4-volume The Works of Matthew Henry sometime in 2025. This, of course, does not include his commentary, which was last reprinted, as far as I know, by Hendrickson in the early 1990s (and is crammed to the gills with typographical errors of various sorts).

 

[Ploutos]

Cath, he mentions a Dr. Hammond quite a bit, but never identifies him. There's one other person he mentions, but his name escapes me at the moment. Aside from those two, he mentions virtually no one.

Reformation Heritage Books is planning to re-publish the 4-volume The Works of Matthew Henry sometime in 2025. This, of course, does not include his commentary, which was last reprinted, as far as I know, by Hendrickson in the early 1990s (and is crammed to the gills with typographical errors of various sorts).

He frequently mentions a Dr. Whitby, and I believe he references Poole with some frequency.

 

[cthorn14]

He references the Hebraist John Lightfoot on several occasions.

 

[cthorn14]

Letter from Charles Spurgeon to his son Charles, quoted in The Autobiography of Charles H. Spurgeon: 1856-1878, p. 296:

Read Matthew Henry right through, if you can, before you are married; for, after that event, I fear that Jacob may supplant him.

 

[Phil D.]

he mentions a Dr. Hammond quite a bit, but never identifies him.

That is Henry Hammond, quite an interesting guy. Nominated to the Westminster Assembly by a nobleman, but never seated. Generally considered a sound theologian, he had some high-Anglican tendencies and was a staunch Royalist.

 

[bookslover]

He frequently mentions a Dr. Whitby, and I believe he references Poole with some frequency.

Yes, Whitby is the other guy I couldn't think of. There's also a Dr. Lightfoot who comes up from time to time, but that's about it.

 

[Charles Johnson]

He's fantastic. The greatest of all time, as far as devotional or lay level commentaries go.

 

[alexanderjames]

How do you read through it? (Both in terms of how you split it up, and the edition.)

I have an old set (Puritan Classics) that has minuscule font which I do consult from time to time.

Maybe I'll put it on an ereader and work through.

 

[davejonescue]

How do you read through it? (Both in terms of how you split it up, and the edition.)

I have an old set (Puritan Classics) that has minuscule font which I do consult from time to time.

Maybe I'll put it on an ereader and work through.

CCEL Has an excellent ePub download of the volumes, already broken up into volumes for easy reading.

Vol. I. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc1
Vol. II. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc2
Vol. III. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc3
Vol. IV. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc4
Vol. V. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc5
Vol. VI. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc6

Just look under the "Read on Mobile" spot to download in ePUB. And it being ePUB, you will be able to adjust the font size to your liking.

Vol. I.—Genesis to Deuteronomy.
Vol. II.—Joshua to Esther.
Vol. III.—Job to Song of Solomon.
Vol. IV.—Isaiah to Malachi.
Vol. V.—Matthew to John.
Vol. VI.—Acts to Revelation.

 

[Kinghezy]

How do you read through it? (Both in terms of how you split it up, and the edition.)

I have an old set (Puritan Classics) that has minuscule font which I do consult from time to time.

Maybe I'll put it on an ereader and work through.

CCEL Has an excellent ePub download of the volumes, already broken up into volumes for easy reading.

I have a physical copy but more regularly use an electronic copy. I have downloaded the CCEL version for an old e-reader. I also use AndBible app on my phone.

For family worship I go through books of the bible in a lectio continua fashion. Matthew Henry is regularly used for when I read the passage ahead of time. Even if I use another commentary as the basis, Matthew Henry regularly fills in gaps that the other commentary has (e.g. maybe the other one is a little briefer in a passage than I prefer).

 

[bookslover]

How do you read through it? (Both in terms of how you split it up, and the edition.)

I have an old set (Puritan Classics) that has minuscule font which I do consult from time to time.

Maybe I'll put it on an ereader and work through.

I read the chapter from Scripture, then Henry's commentary on that chapter. I have the Hendrickson reprint of the 6-volume set that they republished in 1991. As I mentioned above, it has hundreds, maybe thousands, of typos in it, but they're easily compensated for, and they type size is acceptable to my 71-year-old eyes. Great devotional reading.